North Macedonia under the Ottoman Empire

The territory of modern North Macedonia was part of the Ottoman Empire for over 500 years, from the late 14th century until the Treaty of Bucharest in 1913. Before its conquest, this area was divided between various Serbian feudal principalities. Later, it became part of the Ottoman province or Eyalet of Rumelia. The name Rumelia (Turkish: Rumeli) means "Land of the Romans" in Turkish, referring to the lands in the Balkans conquered by the Ottoman Empire from the Byzantine Empire.Encyclopædia Britannica – Rumelia at Encyclopædia Britannica.com

History Conquests

In the Battle of Maritsa of 1371, the King of Lordship of Prilep Vukašin Mrnjavčević and his brother Jovan Uglješa led 70,000 men against the Ottomans. Despite having smaller numbers, the Ottomans managed to kill Vukašin and his brother and win the Battle of Maritsa.Sedlar, Jean W., East Central Europe in the Middle Ages, 1000-1500, (University of Washington Press, 1994), 385.

After the battle, most of Serbia broke into smaller principalities. One of those principalities is known as the Kingdom of Prilep, led by Vukašin's son Marko.The last centuries of Byzantium, (1261-1453) by Donald MacGillivray Nicol Like most regional rulers in the Macedonian region, Marko accepted vassalage under Sultan Murad I to preserve his position.

The Battle of Kosovo of 1389 sealed the fate of the region of Macedonia for the next 500 years. While both armies lost leaders and large numbers of soldiers, the Ottomans could easily assemble another army just as large while the locals could not.

Marko died alongside Konstantin Dragaš at the Battle of Rovine in 1395 and the territory of his realm became the Sanjak of Ohrid.

All of Vardar Macedonia was under Ottoman control by the early 15th century, with Skopje falling under Turkish rule on January 19, 1392. Aside from conflict with Skanderbeg's forces, in which areas of western part of the region of Macedonia became a battleground of Ottoman–Albanian war for more than 20 years (1444–1467), the Ottoman Empire ultimately succeeded in taking the region, incorporating it into Rumelia Eyalet.Marinus Barletius: Historia de vita et gestis Scanderbegi Epirotarum principis

Rumelia Eyalet

From its foundation, the province of Rumelia encompassed the entirety of the Ottoman Empire's European possessions. The first capital of Rumelia was probably Edirne (Adrianople), which was also, until the Fall of Constantinople in 1453, the Ottomans' capital city. In the 18th century, Monastir (present day Bitola) emerged as an alternate residence of the governor, and in 1836, it officially became the capital of the eyalet. At about the same time, the Tanzimat reforms, aimed at modernizing the Empire, split off the new eyalets of Üsküb, Yanya and Selanik and reduced the Rumelia Eyalet to a few provinces around Monastir. The rump eyalet survived until 1867, when, as part of the transition to the more uniform vilayet system, it became part of the Salonica Vilayet.

The reduced Rumelia Eyalet, centred at Manastir, encompassed also the sanjaks of Iskenderiyye (Scutari), Ohri (Ohrid) and Kesrye (Kastoria). In 1855, according to the French traveller A. Viquesnel, it comprised the sanjaks of Iskenderiyye, with 7 kazas or sub-provinces, Ohri with 8 kazas, Kesrye with 8 kazas and the pasha-sanjak of Manastir with 11 kazas.

Vilayets

After administrative reform in 1860s, the Ottoman Empire was divided into vilayets which were subdivided into sanjaks.

Kosovo Vilayet The northern part of the Macedonian region was included in the Kosovo Vilayet. Sanjaks located in this vilayet that contained territory now within the Republic of North Macedonia were: Sanjak of Üsküp, which included the kazas of Üsküp (Skopje), Kumanova (Kumanovo), İştip (Štip), Karatova (Kratovo), Planka (Kriva Palanka), Radovişte (Radoviš) and Koçana (Kočani). Sanjak of Prizren, which included the kaza of Kalkandelen (Tetovo).

Monastir Vilayet The southwestern part of the region was located in the Monastir vilayet. Sanjaks located in this vilayet that contained territory now within the Republic of North Macedonia were: Sanjak of Monastir, which included the kazas of Monastir (Bitola), Ohri (Ohrid) and Pirlepe (Prilep) Sanjak of Dibra, which included the kazas of Debar and Kırçova (Kičevo)

Salonika Vilayet The southeastern part of the region was located in the Salonika vilayet. Sanjaks located in this vilayet that contained territory now within the Republic of North Macedonia were: Sanjak of Selanik, which included the following kazas: Tikveş (Kavadarci), Usturumca (Strumica), Köprülü (Veles)), Toyran (Dojran) and Gevgili (Gevgelija)

1881/82 Ottoman census Ottoman censuses did not count ethnic groups, but rather millets, and increasingly from the 1870s onwards, ethnoconfessional groups. Thus, "Muslims" in the 1881/82 census covered all adherents of Islam, regardless if they were ethnic Turks, Slavs, Albanians, Romani, etc. "Greeks" referred to all Greeks and to any Vlachs, Albanians and Slavs, who considered themselves to be Greek (or Serbian). "Bulgarians" comprised only those (Christian) Slavs who considered themselves Bulgarians.

Thus, according to the Ottoman census of 1881/82, the population of the kazas currently falling within the borders of the Republic of North Macedonia is divided into the following ethnoconfessional groups:

+ Ethnoconfessional groups in kazas currently part of the Republic of North Macedonia as per the 1881-82 Ottoman censusKaza1BulgariansMuslimsGreeksMiscellaneous2Kaza totalNumber%Number%Number%Number%Number% Köprülü 32,843 64.0 18,093 35.2 420 0.8 0 - 51,356 100% Tikveş 21,319 51.3 19,909 47.8 260 0.6 32 0.1 41,520 100 Gevgili 5,784 14.9 17,063 44.0 14,558 37.5 1,402 3.6 38,807 100 Doyran 5,605 20.6 19,423 58.2 1,591 5.9 551 2.0 27,170 100 Usturumca 2,974 9.0 15,760 47.7 13,72641.6 564 1.7 33,024 100Selanik Vilayet Subtotal 68,525 35.7 90,248 47.0 30,555 15.9 2,549 1.3 191,877 100 Üsküp 22,497 32.1 40,25657.3 6,655 9.5 762 1.1 70,170 100 Karatova 19,618 81.8 4,332 18.1 33 0.1 0 - 23,985 100 Kumanova 29,47870.5 12,268 29.3 87 0.2 8 0.0 41,841 100 Planka 18,196 88.1 2,078 10.1 388 1.8 0 - 20,662 100 İştip 17,575 41.6 24,166 57.2 0 - 515 1.2 42,251 100 Kaçana 33,120 59.7 22,239 40.1 83 0.2 0 - 55,442 100 Radovişte 7,364 41.0 10,519 58.5 0 - 97 0.5 17,980 100 Kalkandelen 9,830 22.4 29,212 66.3 4,990 11.3 0 - 44,032 100 Kosova Vilayet Subtotal 157,678 49.8 145,070 45.9 12,236 3.9 1,382 0.4 316,363100 Manastır 61,494 44.7 30,51722.2 41,077 29.9 4,365 3.2 137,453 100 Ohri 33,306 63.2 16,360 31.0 3,0495.8 0 - 52,685 100 Pirlepe 43,76373.814,27024.0 1,248 2.1 42 0.1 59,327 100 Kırçova 20,879 60.1 13,282 38.8 64 0.2 4 0.0 34,229 100Manastır Vilayet Subtotal159,44256.2 74,429 26.2 45,438 16.0 4,411 1.6 283,694100385,645 48.7 309,747 39.188,229 11.18,342 1.1

Balkan Wars

The Balkan Wars consisted of two wars that occurred in 1912 and 1913. The first began on 8 October 1912 when the nations of the Balkan League, who had large parts of their ethnic populations under Ottoman rule, attacked the Ottoman Empire. It lasted seven months with the Balkan League nations coming up victorious, ending 500 years of Ottoman rule in the Balkans.

Vardar Macedonian cities under Ottoman rule

During the Ottoman rule of the Balkans, cities experienced many changes with regards to the demographic makeup of their population and the look of their cityscapes. With laws that prohibited Christian buildings from being higher than Islamic ones, the skylines of cities like Üsküp (Skopje) and Manastır (Bitola) were dominated by minarets.

Ottoman traveller Evliya Çelebi visited the city of Manastır in 1661. He wrote that of the seven mosques in the city at the time, six were built in the 16th century. Most of the mosques constructed on the territory of today's Republic of North Macedonia were square in shape with a three-domed portico and a minaret on the building's right side.

North Macedonia under the Ottoman Empire

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